Blaze stands behind me and directs my hands under the water, like I’m a toddler who needs help.
“I can do this on my own,” I say as his thumbs rub the blood from my skin.
“But will you?” Blaze asks. He kisses the shell of my ear. “You’re so fucking hot, Pandora. Blood is a great color on you.”
Asch must finish cleaning up first, because he comes to stand beside me. He kisses the side of my head. “He’s lucky that’s all he got,” he mutters.
River takes longer to get all of the blood off of his hands, but he’s soon on the other side of me. The three of them cage me in between them and the sink.
I stare at us in the mirror. It’s some sort of painting, me in the center with three men around me.
Are they protecting me?
Or are they protecting the worldfromme?
There are blood flecks on my face. I didn’t know blood could leave trails like that, from my eyes down to my cheeks.
“I told you it wasn’t an issue,” I say to River, shattering the painting.
“I think it was a little bit of an issue,” River counters. “Come on. Let’s get your face clean, then we can go back to the house. Stringer should’ve left to get medical care by now.”
Unless he decided to tough it out.
Blood loss would be a hilarious death for him.
I do have one other problem to deal with though.
Keegan.
He didn’t take my warnings seriously.
I’ll have to make his life an even worse hell.
17
RIVER
“This burger wasnotworth $20. What the hell,” Bobbi complains as she crumples up the wrapper. “You’d think a place like Dyschord could afford better cafeteria food.”
“It’s still cafeteria food,” I point out. “But the pasta’s better.”
I’ve barely touched it, though.
I haven’t had much of an appetite lately, not with wondering if my mom’s even still alive—and what the fallout from the incident with the dean is going to be.
I don’t think Dean Stringer is going to risk pissing off the Bouchards and the Pavones, but I also don’t know if he’s going to let the entire thing go without so much as a word.
The cafeteria is crowded with the lunch rush. It’s too cold to sit outside, never mind the light layer of snow that’s been accumulating all day.
I’ve been avoiding the tunnels connecting all the university buildings, but I see their appeal now. Nobody wants to go out there in this weather.
“Fuck, I’ve got class in half an hour, but with my luck, I’ll get loston my way there,” Bobbi complains. “I swear, this campus was designed to be confusing.”
“I can walk you there,” I offer.
“Thanks.” She smiles at me. “Transferring has been such a pain. Dyschord is giving me hell about counting all my previous credits, too. Look, I know it was a shittier school, but Ididlearn about microbiology!”
“Lucky you,” I tell her. I give up on the food and get up. “Let’s get out of here. I’m pretty familiar with the layout, but the tunnels can still be tricky.” I place the plate into the washing tray with a sigh. “What building are you headed to? Bio?”
